new church life: september/october 2017
However, in the March/April issue of New Church Life Joseph David not
only appears to disagree with me but seems to be stating that the Writings do
not have an internal sense, but rather are, in the sense of the letter, the naked
internal sense of the Bible. That is, although the Writings are supposedly the
Word, Divine Truth from the Lord, as dictated to Swedenborg, they have no
internal, i.e. no spiritual or celestial sense within the natural. I would ask, then,
how we are to interpret the following:
• Heaven and Hell 1 states: “But those who so believe do not know the
arcana which lie concealed in every particular of the Word. For in every
particular of the Word there is an internal sense which treats of things
spiritual and heavenly, not of things natural and worldly, such as are
treated in the sense of the letter. And this is true not only of the meaning
of groups of words, it is true of each particular word.” De Domino
(Concerning The Lord) Preface 9, states: “But they are to be excused
who do not know anything about the style of the Word, that there is a
spiritual sense within every single word.”
• There are also numerous other statements in the Word that one cannot
see the internal sense without enlightenment from the Lord, that is
regeneration. See, for example, Arcana Coelestia 8106, which states:
“The internal sense cannot be comprehended by anyone that is not
regenerated.” (See also Arcana Coelestia 10323, 10551)
• The Writings do not explain all the books of the Bible, but only Genesis,
Revelation and part of Exodus, and that by only part of the Writings,
namely Arcana Coelestia, Apocalypse Revealed and Apocalypse Explained.
Many of the books of the Writings do not deal with the Bible and those
that do only deal with a very small part of it.
• How are we to regard all the other books of the Writings which do not
directly treat of the Bible, including Conjugial Love, Divine Providence
and Earths in the Universe? The only possible answer then is that they
do not have an internal sense and are not the Word as they do they not
explain the Bible.
• However, more importantly is the nature of the New Word. Were they
not given as the New Word, for the New Church in heaven and on
earth, a New Word, which descended from God out of Heaven, the
New Heaven? As part of the Glorification process the Lord brought
the hells under control and established a New Heaven, a New Church,
which replaced the then existing heavens and church. A New Word was
given then for that New Church. More than this, the New Word has
been given from the Lord in His new state, that of the Glorified Divine
Human. With the Resurrection and Glorification was not everything
368